Hill Says Goodbye On November 18, 1915, the day before his execution in Salt Lake City for a murder conviction, labor organizer and songwriter Joe Hill dispatched a flood of letters and telegrams saying goodbye to those who had supported him in his fight for life. The most memorable was his message to I.W.W. leader "Big Bill" Haywood, telling him "Don't waste time mourning. Organize!" In the same telegram, Hill asked Haywood to have his body shipped to the Wyoming state line for burial since, "I don't want to be caught dead in Utah." In his final days Hill also sent this telegram to Swedish Minister W.A.F. Ekengren. Ekengren had offered to bankroll a desperate appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, a gesture Hill (née, Hillstrom) found meaningless. (Courtesy: Library of Congress) Read this historical document's full text                   About the Program || Joe Hill Home || PBS Home